A New Jersey couple recently filed a lawsuit against the pharmaceutical company Merck & Co., alleging that the company’s Zostavax shingles vaccine caused serious complications.

The plaintiff, Patrice C., says she received the Zostavax shingles vaccine on Sept. 23, 2013 in order to prevent shingles. She claims that in April 2017 she suffered from a shingles outbreak.

In the months since that first occurrence, Patrice says she has continued to suffer from periodic shingles outbreaks. These issues have also led to permanent nerve damage, she alleges.

According to her lawsuit, one of the side effects of the Zostavax shingles vaccine is, unfortunately, shingles. Patrice alleges that the Zostavax shingles vaccine ended up causing the very thing it was supposed to have prevented.

Patrice filed her Zostavax shingles vaccine lawsuit on Sept. 12, 2018, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. The lawsuit was filed on multiple counts, including negligence, design defect, failure to warn, breach of express and implied warranties, and several others. Patrice’s husband Frank also filed on one count of loss of consortium.

This is far from the first Zostavax shingles vaccine lawsuit to be filed against Merck.  Plaintiffs have claimed in Zostavax lawsuits that the manufacturers of the vaccine—as well as distributors, marketers, and sellers—were aware of the dangers associated with it, but concealed information about its risks in order to boost sales.

Indeed, thousands of patients have come forward with claims of Zostavax shingles vaccine side effects, including problems like brain damage, death, and even shingles—the disease this medication is meant to prevent.

The Zostavax Shingles Vaccine

The Zostavax shingles vaccine was introduced to the market in May 2006 after its approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Zostavax is manufactured by Merck, approved to prevent shingles (herpes zoster) in patients 60 and up.

Unfortunately, the use of the Zostavax shingles vaccine has been associated with some serious side effects, including the development of the very condition it is meant to prevent.

Zostavax Side Effects

Any medication will come with certain side effects, and the Zostavax shingles vaccine is no exception. Zostavax includes warnings of side effects like headaches, fever, joint pain, and nausea.

However, patients have also reported major Zostavax shingles vaccine side effects that were not initially included in the warnings, including shingles blindness, paralysis, brain damage, and death. Since then, the FDA has updated the drug’s warnings to include vision damage from eye inflammation.

Zostavax side effects usually appear between zero and 6 months after the vaccine is administered, though long-term injuries like neurological damage are also possible.

One lawsuit over shingles vaccine injuries, hundreds of serious adverse event reports have been filed over Zostavax shingles vaccine side effects, including multiple deaths.

Filing a Zostavax Shingles Vaccine Lawsuits

If you or someone you love have suffered from Zostavax shingles vaccine side effects, you may be to join the growing number of Zostavax lawsuits being filed against Merck. Filing a lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering caused by these side effects, nor can it bring a loved one back to life, but it can help to alleviate the financial burden caused by medical expenses and lost wages.

The Zostavax Shingles Vaccine Lawsuit is Case No. 3:18-cv-13831-PGS-TJB, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.